popeyethesailor

Joe Saunders > Volstad. It's just that there's no upside with him, and I'm pretty sure he'll get some sort of stupid contract. upside is overrated.....ie, jeremy hermeida and mike jacobs....lets hold onto volstad so he can really stink up the joint If his very good finish is an indication he will not really stink up the joint. Stop overrating Volstad. He is what he is. Not true. For one thing the terrible Marlins infield defense has killed the strong groundball pitcher in past years with Infante the only improvement this past year. Before Infante? Terrible. Our third basemen? What a joke. Mediocre fielding first baseman at best. His peripherals have improved a lot this year. Reyes will help him big time. Check Halladay and Carpenter histories for he is what he is at age 24. Our rotation is fine if Johnson isnt hurt and Nolasco earns his 9 MM

Joe Saunders > Volstad. It's just that there's no upside with him, and I'm pretty sure he'll get some sort of stupid contract. upside is overrated.....ie, jeremy hermeida and mike jacobs....lets hold onto volstad so he can really stink up the joint If his very good finish is an indication he will not really stink up the joint. just like his really good finish the last 3 years? The finish in 09 wasnt that good, the finish in '10 was bogus only because of run support, only the finish this past year was definitely very good but with terrible run support. So it's only the one good year age 24 pitching year. Plenty of time to improve but he needs to show it now.

Joe Saunders > Volstad. It's just that there's no upside with him, and I'm pretty sure he'll get some sort of stupid contract. upside is overrated.....ie, jeremy hermeida and mike jacobs....lets hold onto volstad so he can really stink up the joint If his very good finish is an indication he will not really stink up the joint.

1) Johnson 2.85 ERA 2) Buehrle 3.50 ERA 3) Nolasco 3.82 ERA 4) Sanchez 3.65 ERA 5) Volstad 3.88 ERA Peripherals and xFIP numbers are good clues. Great rotation

Volstad? barf Nolasco last year ERA 4.67 to get 9MM this year? barf

I also don't see how he can say if everything goes well, it's an average rotation. If everything goes well, we'll have a great rotation. so far ricky nolasco has not proven that he can shake the inconsistency nor that he can repeat his 2008 season which is his only season below a 4.50 ERA. Volstad has not come anywhere close to his 2008 numbers as well. after he finally improved at the end of 2010 we thought he may have turned the corner but he proved that he very much had not. again last year he had the same solid finish but im not buying it again. there is no reason to believe that everything will go well because it never really has gone well. if im the marlins, though he is overpaid, im making ricky nolasco my #5 at best and looking for a proven #2 or #3. Volstad did not really improve at the end of 2010. His 8-1 record was lucky because of run support. His last 10 starts or so this year were very good, 3.64 ERA and he did improve his peripherals. His 0-5 record was because of terrible run support. Now he's 25 and if he's learned he could be a great #5 and surprise all you Voly haters. Is Nolasco worth 9 MM?

You have to figure that Alex Sanabia will push Volstad for the 5th spot. Sanabia with the ERA 5.79 this past Arizona fall league?

a lot of people forget nolasco was 15-8 a couple seasons ago so if we can get rid of volstad for a maholm, kuroda, or acquire gio that'll be a sick rotation. jj, mark, anibal, gio, ricky Yeah and the next year he was lucky 13-9 with a very high ERA of 5.06. I always question W-L records

Please come back. Sincerely, Iowa Will he pitch like before the all star break or after?

the marlins ruled out edwin jackson but i think a pitcher no one is talking about that will upgrade our rotation and that is paul maholm. Jackson-The 28 y/o guy with career numbers ERA of 4.46, BABIP of .311 and WHIP of 1.48? Yeah, I guess he's ruled out.

Similar Pitchers through 24 View Similar Player Links in Pop-up Compare Stats to Similars Jeff Weaver (986) Ben Sheets (981) Scott Olsen (977) Melido Perez (974) Frank Viola (969) Johnny Cueto (968) Don Cardwell (966) Kyle Lohse (964) Tom Glavine (964) Ryan Dempster (961) There are some pretty solid guys on that list. People seem to forget that he is 24 because he's been pitching in the bigs since age 20 Good point. Plus other guys were worse through 25 like Chris Carpenter

What is the upside to Volstad, exactly? He's cheap? If Volstad finally learned and pitches as he did his last 10 starts or so he has a lot of upside.Good velo and stuff. Plus he just turned 25. Chris Carpenters numbers were worse at the same age.

Or not tendered an offer? Imagine what we can do if we can convince somebody to eat Ricky Nolasco's $9 million. There is no way they do not tender Volstad and let him walk. If he pitches like he did his last 10 starts or so he will be a great asset. Nolasco may be traded if they want to save on the payroll.

So the current team looks like... Lineup 1. SS - Jose Reyes - $10MM 2. CF - Emilio Bonifacio - $2.1MM 3. 3B - Hanley Ramirez - $15MM 4. RF - Mike Stanton - $414,000 6. LF - Logan Morrison - $414,000 7. 1B - Gaby Sanchez - $414,000 7. C - John Buck - $6MM 8. 2B - Omar Infante - $4MM Bench 1. Bryan Petersen (OF) - $414,000 2. Chris Coghlan (INF/OF) - $490,000 3. Brett Hayes © - $414,000 4. Greg Dobbs (INF) - $700,000 5. Donnie Murphy (INF) - $500,000 Starters 1. Josh Johnson - $13.75MM 2. Mark Buehrle - $14MM 3. Anibal Sanchez - $6MM 4. Ricky Nolasco - $9MM 5. Alex Sanabia - $414,000 Bullpen 1. Clay Hensley - $1.8MM 2. Edward Mujica - $1.6MM 3. Randy Choate - $1.5MM 4. Steve Cishek - $414,000 5. Mike Dunn - $414,000 6. Ryan Webb - $414,000 7. Heath Bell - $9MM Total Payroll = $89.15 MM We definitely still have room for Fielder and/or Wilson! #5 Volstad 2.6M unless he's traded

Rotation of Johnson, Buehrle, Sanchez, Nolasco and Volstad. Now get Fielder

Thoughts on this signing: 1) It will be regretted 2) What is a closer for when you are trotting Volstad, Nolasco, Hand, Sanabia, etc. to the mound? 3) Ceda's minor league numbers suggest he can do as well if not better than Bell. I'd give him the shot. 4) The over/under on blown saves for 2012 for Bell is 7. Sanabia, and Hand for that matter are going to be good, if not great major league starters. Sanabia has proven his ability, and hand is still extremely young. Volstad more likely then not will be traded, but even if we sign CJ, or Buehrle at least 1 or perhaps even 2 of those guys will be in our rotation, just hope they(nolasco) gets better. Ceda hasn't even had an entire major league season under his belt, putting him in the closer role is idiotic. If our ballpark plays the way we expect it to, then bell should be very effective, at home at very least. I strongly believe we get reyes, and one of the two others mentioned. The only thing i'm not sure of is what we get for volstad, coghlan, and anyone else we could move. The trades will define how good we are this year, assuming we do get the free agents. After 84 major leagues innings Sanabia has proven his ability? Sanabia and Hand are going to be good, if not great major league starters? What have you been smoking?

Right on, release the giant. I second Squall's post. The way he pitched after coming back from AAA ERA 3.48 and at age 24 he should not be released. ERA of 2.32 in September is not sustainable but Chris Carpenter struggled worse by age 24.

I'm pretty confident that JJ will come out dominating at the start of next year, throwing just enough innings per start to let the bullpen blow it,. Also, he averaged 6 2/3 innings per start last year. That is bad? No, but his run support of -3.7(yes, negative) runs per game qualifies him as the unluckiest pitcher in baseball. According to Rotographs Volstad was the unluckiest pitcher in baseball tied with Burnett in the AL.

I'm pretty sure Nolasco would be as good as gone if such a deal were to happen with Reyes. so it would be Sanabia time? Sanabia with the 5.68 ERA now in the Arizona league?

so where does everyone think volstad will end up at. do you think he's getting traded or do you think he becomes our long reliever and spot starts? I think he moves up and becomes our #4 Yeah if he pitches like he did his last 9 starts a 3.48 ERA after back from AAA he will be really good for the Marlins unless he is traded.

Looks like lucky Volstad draws Strasberg again so his terrible run support will likely continue.

i guess its kind of good that volstad is pitching a little better so we can maybe get some more for him. Pitching a little better? He's been pitching great. Last 6 starts a 2.67 ERA.

Remember when Javy had the worst ERA in the Majors at like a 6-odd something? Guess who now has an ERA of 3.77 ... I remembered him and Volstad were DFL in ERA. At least one of them figured it out. Volstad has several straight quality starts and is pitching well lately his past five starts with an ERA of 2.97. Maybe at just 24 he is starting to figure it out.

Is Vollie coming up for arbitration? Even mediocre gets $2 mil a year or so....... If Nolascos mediocre 4.44 career ERA is worth almost $9 million per year what is Volstads somewhat worse mediocre 4.65 career ERA worth? How does the arbitration system work?

Hand was in trouble a lot and had several hard hit balls for outs. WHIP almost 2. Not impressed